The Rainbows End
by Idream3223
Summary: Crossover TB/WoZ/Generation Kill/The Transverse E/S OOC/AU/M Sergeant Susan Stackhouse, US Marine Corp, First Recon Team came home to Bon Temps with PTSD, a tattoo from The Man in Black and the precious memory of night with a stranger named Eric that she holds close to heart in times of need and trouble. She is haunted by dreams of battles fought and and battles yet to come.
1. All Fall Down

**The Rainbows End: All Fall Down (Dreaming Out Loud)**

I was in Baghdad. I was back home.

Part of me was still there and part of me never left Bon Temps. Gran would ask me to pass the salt and I would be back at chow joking with Gyl or Vic about who we had to blow to get something other than MREs. I would be laughing like a crazy person when I happened to look down the table and see Gran still waiting for her salt.

In the night the bombs rained down all around me, and I felt safe there. Here a thunderstorm would send me under the bed with my pillow in a ball. Maybe it was the other way around, and the thunderstorms made me feel safe but the bombs put me under the bed.

A storm is coming…

In Baghdad there were no beds, just graves and cat naps, dug in or propped with Ripped Fuel canisters for pillows. A single pill rattling around could ruin your fifty-six minutes of sleep. There was always a single pill rolling around in me, Sergeant Susan Stackhouse, US Marine Corp, First Reconnaissance Team. I needed that pill because there were no where to hide until it all passed by. I needed the pill to keep my eyes open and my hands on my weapon.

Never drop your weapon. You died for that shit. That was fucking BASIC.

Sometimes, when I couldn't sleep, I wondered if having my weapon back would end my insomnia. I wondered that sometimes when I was asleep, too, when I dreamed of what happened, and what was still happening in dilated time, when I got a song lyric we used to sing on recon trapped in my head on a repeating loop.

Asleep or awake the bombs fell, they always fell. I always fell. I tried to stop it then and I tried to stop it now. They weren't targets, they were just people who got in the way. I couldn't get them out of the way, I couldn't get them out of my head.

We had watched the village for three hours and declared it to be peaceful. We were packing up to move on when the first one landed. Danger close, the sand raining down on me, burning my face and hands. I tried to run in but Vic stopped me. I fought for all I was worth like I could stand in the way and shield them, like I could make a difference.

"Get it the fuck together, Stackhouse!" she screamed in my ear and I heard her but it wasn't coming together. This isn't why we were here, and this isn't what we were supposed to do! When I rolled her over, ready to roll her off, ready to charge in she took me out with a sharp left. When I woke I was choking on ash and it was over.

Except it was never over. I was always there, trying to get there, even from here. It was never over.

My tag was Ice Princess, because I was cool and collected at all times, especially under fire. I had to find that place again. It was over, except that it was never over.

"If you blow this, Stackhouse you fucking blow it for all of us!" She was right of course. We were the first fucking female recon squad and when they asked me at recruitment if I could take it I had yelled, "Hoo-rah!" like I knew what it meant. When they asked me in BASIC if I could take it yelled, "Hoo-rah!" When they ran me to the bone and asked if I wanted more I yelled, "Hoo-rah!" When they sent me to SEAL and SERE I yelled, "Hoo-rah!" I turned off the part of me that thought and reasoned. I turned off the part of me that felt any goddamned thing at all, and yelled, "Hoo-rah!"

"Hoo-rah!" I yelled back to Vic, because now it was too late to say anything else. "HOO-FUCKIN-RAH!" I screamed to drown them out. I was a cold killing machine. I had been from the beginning. It was too late to try and be anything else forty klicks past enemy lines.

"HOO-FUCKIN-RAH!"

"That's my bitch! HOO-FUCKIN-RAH! HOO-FUCKIN-RAH!" We screamed it all the way back to base, until my throat was bleeding, until it drowned out the sound of the screams in my ears.

After that day when I started to lose it, when the screams of the dead got too loud I would yell, "HOO-RAH!" until I couldn't hear them anymore.

I did what I had to do. I didn't crack and I didn't bleed. I was a fucking MARINE! Marines don't fucking bleed unless they get the order!

Ninety days, endless villages and endless dead later my team came up for R&R. Five fun filled days in Phuket. I drank until Gyl and Vic had to carry me back to the hotel. I drank every night and when the drink didn't do it, I picked fights and when no one would fight I would yell, "HOO-RAH!" until they fucking threw us out of whatever shit hole we were drinking in.

My hand was busted and my nose was broken when we found the tattoo parlor and I was drunk enough to think it was the best fucking idea we had ever had. I had meant to be inked since we hit the sand.

We stumbled in arm in arm and looked at the man behind the counter. I remember I blinked and tried to focus because he was not what I was expecting. "Oh, ladies, check this shit. Johnny Cash is gonna ink us!"

He was a Caucasian, rare enough to find in this part of the world, and an exceptionally good looking one at that. I heard Vic purr beside me, I knew already she was chanting, "GET SOME!" in her head, and knowing her before we left here, she would do just that.

"Ladies," he said in a deep voice that matched his somber outfit. He oozed sex, and he wasn't even trying, or maybe that was us, six months in country and just needing to get laid. He had short dark hair and startling green eyes. He was beautiful but I just wanted the ink.

The rest of the night was hazy in my memory. I remember him saying that he would give me that tat I needed, it was karma. I remember telling him to fuck karma and make with the ink. He laughed then. I remember he said his name was Dish, short for Kaddish.

"What the fuck is a Kaddish?" I had asked, still spoiling for a fight even when I was on the table.

"Hymn of Praise to God," he had answered, his green eyes pinning me down.

"Oh, yeah? You can tell him something for me," I said. "Tell him I said fuck you!" He had laughed at me.

"He already knows," and then he went back to the tat. I remember that when he was done I sat up and looked at my right shoulder.

"What the fuck is this?" I had a pair of ruby slippers on me.

"A lady should always be prepared." I snorted.

"Fuck you, too, Dish."

"That's karma for you, somebody's always gettin' fucked."

A storm is coming…

I shot up in my bed, back in Bon Temps, it was the thunder again, and my tat was burning. What the fuck? It was almost three years ago I got this thing, and it had never done this before. I was covered in cold sweat and when I got up I nearly fell to the floor. I caught myself just in time, didn't want to worry Gran. I already hated the way she looked at me.

I felt like she could see every sorry fucking thing I had ever done or failed to do.

I finally made it the mirror and had to rub my eyes. Those fucking shoes were glowing!

"What the ever lovin' fuck is this shit?" I rubbed my eyes again.

A storm is coming…

32XXXXXXXXX23

The next morning I was sure I had dreamed the whole thing. Since I made it back state side my dreams had been FUBAR. "Screwby," Gyl would say and roll her eyes while she polished her gun like it was a lovers cock. She had the cleanest fucking gun in camp. Bet her old man missed the shit outta her.

I missed the shit outta her, too. Her and Vic had been the reason I kept it together after what happened at the village. It wasn't just my career that I would shit can if the Ice Princess melted. It was theirs and every woman who came after.

HOO-RAH!

Fucking, mutherfucking, HOO-RAH, bitches!

Gran had sent me to the store. I could do that. I could tool through the cool isles and pick out supplies like nobody's business. I could wait tables at Merlotte's where the owner Sam looked at me with something like pity in his eyes whenever I jumped a mile out of my skin at a glass breaking or a tray hitting the floor.

He knew I was fucked up. He had the courtesy not to ask about it. I did my job and he minded his business, which was none of mine.

I had just wanted to save one. Just one. I couldn't even do that. A whole fucking village and I couldn't even save a single one.

"Gotta be lookin' forward," Gyl had said. "Can't leave your head in the past, Princess." So I stuffed it down until I choked on it, I stuffed deep until I was out and there was only me to worry about. They kept going, but I fell behind and then I fell out. The only thing that could find me now were the dreams and the memories.

A storm is coming…

But it wasn't all bad. As I looked for items on my grocery list I let myself peek into the place where I kept the one memory that I needed more than any other. I didn't go there often, I was afraid I think. Afraid that it might get contaminated with all the poison that filled my mind and my soul.

It was the best memory I had of my time as a Marine. The last night I was in Phuket, the night after the weird fucking trip to the tattoo parlor I had been at some dive, swilling drinks and looking for one last fight before we left at 06:00 to return to the fight. I was considering how totally screwby it was that I wanted to go back, I wanted to fight and at the same time it was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Maybe I knew that no matter where you go, there you are, and I could be just as fucked up there as I was here, but with a purpose. Maybe there was still one out there I could save.

He came up beside me and leaned against the bar. He was a god. Well over six feet tall, blond hair and when he turned to look at me with his eyes of sky the bombs in my head stopped going off. I didn't want another drink, and I didn't want to fight away the pain.

I remember that he looked at my tattoo and smiled. His smile made angels fall from the sky, and devils like me long to climb up there just to be near him. I think he said, "A lady should always be prepared," which is what Dish had said, but I am not sure I didn't just make that up. I think that is what he said, but it wouldn't make sense for a perfect random stranger to tell me what The Man in Black had said.

But he must have said that because I know for sure what I said next was what Dish had said next, "Karma. Is somebody getting fucked now?"

"Always." Then I was in his arms, and his lips were on mine. The rest is a collage, as if we had been in a room of total darkness with a light bulb on a swinging chain.

I saw him, face in ecstasy while he moved me on him.

Black.

I saw him looking at me in the exact way a woman wants to be looked at, as if she is the only woman in the world.

Black.

I saw him looking at where he was joined with me, and I wanted to keep that look on his beautiful face forever.

Black.

I saw him, his face a perfect capture of intense pleasure and I felt him come inside me as I had the best orgasm of my life.

Black.

I saw him above me, kissing my tattoo softly, and I was tingling. My tattoo was tingling.

Black.

"I finally found you, Sookie." I know he said that, called me by a name that I had left stateside when I joined the Marines. I know he said it, as sure I as I know there was no way he could have.

Black.

I saw him, his blue eyes filled with promise and love. "I will find you again!" he swore and I believed him like a child believes in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. I believed him like I needed to believe I could still save one. Just one. Anyone.

Black.

I woke alone, back in my room and shipped out at 06:00. All the way back I thought I could still feel him, still hear him.

I will find you again.

It was a dream. It was a memory. It was a hope. A hope that held me together for the rest of my tour and that even now, nearly three years later held me as sure as his strong arms had that night.

I will find you again.

It was the only thing that made the bombs stop, but I couldn't take it out and look at it often or long. To do so would risk it, make it sticky with all the other shit I needed so desperately to forget. He was my refuge, my savior.

Eric…

I was driving home with the groceries Gran needed when I saw the dark clouds gathering over Bon Temps.

A storm is coming…

Fuckin'- A there as it was gonna be a gully washer! I sped up trying beat it to the old farmhouse where we lived. I pulled in, grabbed the groceries and ran for the door as the sky opened.

"Gran!" I called out as I put the stuff away. When I finished the rain was pounding so hard on the front of the house that I couldn't see out the windows. I checked her room but she wasn't there.

I ran through the whole house calling to her but she wasn't home. I was about to get worried when I heard the thunder and a roaring sound that chilled me to the bone. Running the front door I threw it open and I saw the funnel coming right at me.

A tornado.

But those don't happen in Louisiana, my brain argued. I closed the door calmly.

Those don't happen in Louisiana.

The noise grew louder, and I stood with my back against the door, my rational mind arguing against the evidence that tornados do indeed happen in Louisiana.

The house started shake.

A storm is coming…

"It's here," I whispered before I covered my ears and screamed, "HOO-RAH! HOO-RAH! HOO-RAH!" and then I was out of the blue and into the black.

"Warrior…"

Everything was spinning.

"Warrior…you are called!"

"HOO-RAH!" I answered. My eyes were open and in the black I saw a large python.

"Warrior!" the python said.

"HOO-RAH!" I answered.

"I will find you again!"

"Eric? Where are you!" I ran into the spinning black and found only the python.

"WARRIOR! YOU ARE CALLED! THERE IS A STORM COMING!"

On I ran away from the python, toward the python, calling to my dream, my hope, my salvation.

"ERIC!"

"I will find you!"

"ERIC!" And then I fell, everything around me fell. The bombs were falling again.

"This time," the python said, "Perhaps you will save one."

"HOO-RAH!" followed me into the dark and just when I thought I would die in the black, I saw two small spots of sky blue open before me.

"Sookie? I found you!"


	2. Beast of Burden

_"WARRIOR! YOU ARE CALLED! THERE IS A STORM COMING!"_

_ On I ran away from the python, toward the python, calling to my dream, my hope, my salvation._

_ "ERIC!"_

_ "I will find you!"_

_ "ERIC!" And then I fell, everything around me fell. The bombs were falling again._

_ "This time," the python said, "Perhaps you will save one."_

_ "HOO-RAH!" followed me into the dark and just when I thought I would die in the black, I saw two small spots of sky blue open before me._

_ "Sookie? I found you!"_

32XXXXXXXXXXXXX23

**The Rainbows End: Beast of Burden (GRRRRR!)**

*static*"Tornado Alley extends from central Texas northward to Illinois and Indiana. The heart of Tornado Alley includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, eastern Colorado, and South Dakota. Less intense areas of Tornado Alley include parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Texas has more tornadoes than any other state in the USA, but Oklahoma has the most dangerous storms (F4 and F5 storms). That is all." *static*

"Solid copy, LT," I mumbled, my eyes still closed, my body aching. I was back in country again and a storm was coming.

No, the storm had already happened, and that was the LT educating my dumb redneck ass on how a tornado could and did happen in Louisiana.

Hoo-rah!

Vic? That was Vic somewhere off to my left. Gotta get up, gotta move. I forced my eyes open and then worked on getting them to focus. I was still in the hall by the door at the foot of the steps, but they seemed wrong?

I sat up and looked again, they had fallen partially. Looking around I saw that most of Gran's furniture was scattered, crushed and splintered. I did a quick check of my person, my training coming back. I was able.

Roger that, I thought and slowly started to rise. Once assured I could stand I went to the front door, which was partially off its hinges. Several hard tugs opened the door but what awaited me was not Bon Temps.

Before me was what appeared to be a brick road? Scratch that, a yellow brick road that led off into the distance as far as the eye could see. I took a step to go out and then stopped, looking down at myself. I had worn a little yellow sun dress that tied in the back with little white flats on my grocery run. I scrunched my face.

Before going into enemy territory a Marine suits up!

Roger that. I headed upstairs, careful not the twist an ankle on the damaged flight of steps and dug out my camo and side arm. Gran had not wanted a gun in her house but I refused to give it up and after sleeping in the yard two nights in a row she had relented and let me bring it in.

I had never told her that sometimes I tried to sleep with it. I say tried because it had not helped. Probably because a Beretta M9 was no substitute for an M 16 rifle. It wasn't long enough and there wasn't enough to wrap myself around.

Damn straight, the ghost of Gyl yelled in my mind, shooting me a dirty look telling me she knew about things that were long enough to wrap myself around, too.

I smiled. I couldn't help it, and then right behind that I thought of something else that was long enough to wrap myself around, several times.

Eric!

I hurried into my boots and pulled my shoulder length blond hair up in a ponytail before heading back down, moving fast now. I had to find him. I knew I had heard him, he was out there somewhere.

When I got to the door again, I paused just a second and then I stepped off, moving at a good clip to the nearest cover. Crouching behind a large bush I took a careful look around.

The house had landed right smack in the middle of this yellow brick road. It was leaning precariously, and I gave a silent prayer of thanks that Gran had been elsewhere when I went for a tornado ride in the Stackhouse legacy.

Oh, she was gonna be fit to be tied when she saw this! Then I heard something moving just off to my left, staying under cover, and moving with stealth.

I had a flashback to when Vic and I had taken out an RPG team, all I could see for a minute was the melon splash of Hadjis head when I blew it off before he could blow me up.

Closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, I forced that back and called on the shreds of the Ice Princess. I needed that bitch with me now. I wrapped both hands around my weapon and started maneuvering to get behind whoever was getting into position around me.

I was just about in place when right in the middle of the road a dark haired woman in a fluffy pink dress appeared with a blinding flash of light.

She gathered herself a moment and from my vantage point I saw her smooth her hair and adjust her clothing before taking a slow look around. Hadji would have blown your head off by now, bitch, Vic said in my head and I had to agree.

"Susan Stackhouse?" she called out, spinning slowly in a circle. I froze. Clearly, I was expected. How did that work? My brain raced and tried to connect the dots. Maybe she had a copy of the Tornado Express schedule?

Some shit you just can't reason, Stackhouse. Your life is gonna get a whole lot simpler when you stop trying to apply logic to crazy.

I miss you, Gyl. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer for Gran and my friends.

"Here!" I called out, rolling back into a crouch and ready to come up shooting. I had expected bullets to rain down on me, the enemy to come out of the bushes and blast away. Instead I heard her tinkling laughter.

"Oh, my! I would pop over there but I'm afraid you would shoot me!"

"Got that right, sister," I mumbled. What next?

Stay in or come out, Gyl whispered in my mind. Logic on crazy…

I shook my head to clear the ghosts and stood slowly surveying the area intently. I had not forgotten the unsub somewhere out there in the surrounding cover.

"Welcome to The Land of Oz!" she said, careful to remain still since I had my Beretta trained on her. "I am Claudine, The Good Witch of the South."

"Yeah, well I am Sergeant Susan Stackhouse, US Marine Corp, First Reconnaissance Team." Witches? Witches were real?

"I know your name, Warrior. You have been called." Oh, that again.

"Called for what?"

"Why, to fight of course!" she smiled then, not unkindly, but I could tell that my question had disrupted her calm state of mind.

"Sergeant Susan Stackhouse, US Marine Corp, First Reconnaissance Team, DISCHARGED. I don't fight anymore." Her brow wrinkled.

"No, that can't be! You bear the mark! You were summoned to fight for Oz."

"What mark?" I was suddenly very fucking afraid I knew what mark she meant. The one that glowed, the one that stung, the one that tingled when tall blond gods kissed it and promised he would find me. THAT mark.

"The Ruby Slippers," she said, starting to sound frustrated. I could tell this wasn't going at all the way she had played it out in her head.

I was amused. I could afford to be since all this screwby for me, too.

"What of them?"

"You were marked as the Warrior, and called to defend Oz in her darkest hour!" She was going to stamp her foot just any minute now, I could feel it.

"Look, Claudine, Witchy-poo, whatever the fuck your name is, clearly you got the preview before this shit flick started. I missed it. I was out getting popcorn and a Pepsi, so why don't you roll this fucker back and fill me in on just what the sideways humping Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ is happening here!"

My Gran would have beaten me with a broom for that language, but it was part of the training. Dominate your opponent with any means you have. Verbally, physically, psychologically. Whatever it took to get the fucking job done. From the look on her face, my colorful use of the language had finished snapping her delicate restraints and lady like manner.

And there it was, she stomped her fucking foot.

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to put a bullet right between her fucking eyes and then find that son of a bitch in the bushes and aerate his skull, too. My finger tightened on the trigger. All I needed to do was breathe and this bitch with her stomping foot would be history.

Hoo-rah, I thought and pulled. It felt good. Good like getting that itch in the middle of your back that you can't quite reach with your hands by humping a door frame and rubbing while folding yourself in half to get just the right angle. The soldier in me wanted to pull again, and again, until there were no more bangs. Let the bodies fall down on until it was a bloody brick road.

As soon as I pulled and had that nanosecond of pleasure that beat the mother of all orgasms passed I felt the sharpness of regret and heard the bombs dropping again…and again….and again.

Next will be the screams. I closed my eyes and prepared myself.

"Now, that wasn't very nice was it?" she said in my ear. I jumped and stepped back aiming at her again. WHAT THE FUCK?

Karma.

"Fuck, karma," I said through gritted teeth and banged away, but all I hit was thin air. She was gone again. I dropped to the ground and elbow crawled closer to the nearest cover.

"You know, Susan, if you kill everyone you meet here in Oz you will never get any reliable intel on why you are here, or how to get out." She was lying beside me on the ground, her head propped on her hand like we were having a picnic rather than a shootout.

Fuck it all, she had a point. I could keep shooting at air or I could listen to what she had to say. I pretended it was my choice.

"Talk." She smirked then. I bided my time. No one was vigilant forever, and once I had all the intel that she possessed I would finish what I had started here.

"Can we go inside? I would like some tea." She stood then, dusted off her puffy dress and held her hand out to me. I rose on my own and motioned for her to lead the way, as I scanned for the unsub.

"I doubt the pitcher of sweet tea made the trip intact," I said as we walked in to my lopsided house, which was starting to seem normal to my now lopsided brain. Another benefit of my training, adapt or die. It was carved in my bones to adapt and move forward with the mission, no matter what.

"Oh, you might be surprised," she said and picked up a chair to take a seat at the table, which was off to the side of the room now, and not dead center the way Gran had always kept it. I grabbed a chair, too and found two plastic tumblers that had made the journey intact. Opening the fridge I saw that miraculously while everything else was a jumble the open top glass pitcher sat perfectly on the shelf where I had left it when I went for groceries that morning.

Adapt or die.

I reached in and poured us each a glass, then I took a seat across from her, placing my gun on the table between us, sending a very clear message.

She took a sip, and then set her glass down delicately on the table.

"Once upon a time," she started and I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of my own tea while this crazy bitch rapped on with her fairy tale. "There was a land ruled by a kind, wise and benevolent man that his subjects called The Great King Eric Northman." Something inside me tightened.

"One day a Wizard came this peaceful land and introduced himself to the Great King as a friend. His name was Russell Edgington, and he had traveled far from another land called Mississippi.

"The Great King welcomed him, and listened to his stories with awe and wonder. Could he travel to this land? Certainly, his new friend Russell told him, this land and many others because he had the secret key that opened the door between this world and his.

"The Great King, brave and true, longed to see the lands that his new friend Russell spoke of, and so Russell and the King had many grand adventures. After a time, Russell claimed to weary of travel and longed to stay in Oz, so he gave The Great King the key that he might travel on his own for a bit.

"Unbeknownst to the King, Russell used his time alone in Oz to forge alliances with some of its less desirable residents, and then to plant the seeds of rebellion and war.

"Why should your King care more for other worlds than this? He would ask of the lowliest peasant to the richest of men. He consulted the Dark Witches Guild and formed pacts with Sophie and Freyda, the Wickedest Witches in the East and the West.

"Whenever the King returned, Russell would hide his treasonous actions and play the role of friend as he always had, so the King was none the wiser. One night at a party hosted by all the Kings greatest and loyalist supporters Russell tricked the King into revealing why he traveled so frequently to another land.

"The Great King had been in search of a Queen, he told them and he had found her at last in a strange land called Phuket. He said that she was beautiful beyond compare with eyes that warmed his heart and hair the color of the sun. He said that she was a warrior, strong and true and that once she was free of her obligations he meant to bring her to Oz and make her his Queen.

"This caused a great uproar among the citizens, especially the ones who thought their own daughters to be far more worthy and deserving than a strange woman from a strange land who had no right to be Queen of Oz. That night the seeds that Russell had so carefully planted for rebellion against The Great King Eric began to flower.

"It was also that night that Freyda, The Wicked Witch of the West saw the ruination of her own plans to wed the King herself and rule the land because The Great King swore that he would have no other, she had stolen his heart the moment he saw her.

"It was a short time later that Freyda with all the Winkies of her land allied with Russell against The Great King and killed him, seizing the throne and throwing the land into turmoil. The only ones who dared stand against him were the Animals and The Good Witches, myself, Glinda of the North, Beatrice of the East, and Amanda of the West.

"Sophie the Wicked Witch of the East, Pamela of the South and Katrina of the West allied with Freyda, offering troops of their own and together they cut a swath of destruction across Oz the likes of which had never been seen. They burned her sacred forests, poisoned her waters and killed all who dared stand in their way.

"Along the way, Glinda, Beatrice and Amanda were able to stop Pamela and Katrina, and beat back the forces of Russell, Freyda and Sophie. For several years we had an uneasy peace and then a spy in Russell's palace at the Emerald City managed to get out a message to us.

"Russell has new weapons. Weapons from another world, weapons like yours." She looked at my gun on the table. "He seeks to end the rebellion against his rule from the Emerald City, and seek out the Sacred Seven to kill them and make their power his.

"If he succeeds in doing this not only will Oz fall, but all the worlds will fall into Darkness as well. Even, yours, Susan." She paused there and waited to see if I had anything to say. I had stopped breathing when she said the word 'Phuket' so it was not possible for me to speak. I was also refusing to process that The Great King Eric, my Eric, maybe, probably, my Eric was dead at the hands of this monster Russell and Freyda. She went on.

"In Oz, you will find that Animals can speak. It was a gift from the Great Goddess Ozma when this world was made. To watch over her land, she chose Seven Animals to hold the power of Creation. If Russell succeeds in finding and in killing The Seven, he will be unstoppable and all of Creation will be at his mercy."

I blinked and took a shallow breath, enough to speak.

"And why I am here?"

"You, Sergeant Susan Stackhouse, US Marine Corp, First Reconnaissance Team, bear the Ruby Slippers. You are the Chosen Warrior of the Seven. You will lead us in the final battle against Russell and his forces for dominion over Creation."


	3. Gimme Shelter

_"And why I am here?"_

_"You, Sergeant Susan Stackhouse, US Marine Corp, First Reconnaissance Team, bear the Ruby Slippers. You are the Chosen Warrior of the Seven. You will lead us in the final battle against Russell and his forces for dominion over Creation."_

**The Rainbows End: Gimme Shelter (Let It Bleed)**

"The fuck you say!" I reached for my gun on the table and leveled it at her head again. My finger was squeezing the trigger but before I hit the sweet spot that would stop her horrible words she raised her hands in surrender.

"If this is your final answer, if this is all you are capable of Susan Stackhouse then kill me now, because this is over. Oz is over." She bowed her head then and continued to sit there, hands in the air.

Did she know that my training, the very training that I was falling back on now, prevented me from shooting a surrender? Did she know what she was doing or was it karma again? Was I about to get fucked because I still clung to the idea that what I did could matter more than death? Was I about to get fucked again because she was now placing herself in my hands, asking me to save her?

Was she the one that I could save?

"FUCK!" I screamed, jumping up and sending my chair back skittering into a pile of debris that used to be my Gran's kitchen. Claudine, the self-proclaimed Good With of the South kept her seat and her hands raised in submission.

I wanted her to make a move, any move that would free me to blast away again, but she was still, and I was FUBAR. My mind was racing trying to apply logic to crazy and at odds with my training. Adapt or die.

Was dying an option? Of course it is, some dark slick voice slithered through my brain. You can't shoot a surrendered prisoner but you can shoot yourself, and really wouldn't that be best? You are broken, Stackhouse, and they want a warrior. They need a warrior, and they have mistaken you for one. End this now and let them look elsewhere for what they need.

It would be a mercy.

It would be the waste of a bullet, Stackhouse. I closed my eyes, Vic wasn't here. I knew that, but I knew that was her voice just the same. You took an oath. Remember you useless coward? You took an oath! Say it now, bitch. Remember who you are!

"I, S-Susan St-Stackhouse, d-do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." I lowered my gun then.

Adapt or die. I took a fucking oath, and if what Claudine was telling me was truth, then my country was in danger, too. Fuck me and my nightmares. Fuck me and my cowardice. Fuck karma. I took a fucking oath! I threw my head back then and screamed, loud and feral as I harnessed the part of me that wanted to run away. I called forth the part of me that had once been called The Ice Princess. I called on the strength that my Marine sisters had given me and the strength that the Corp had worked into the soul of me.

I also pulled in the sky blue of my savior, now dead, according to this witch. He had healed me in my darkest hour, and the intel that I had now told me that this improbably crooked place had been his life's blood. This had been his land, and I owed him one. For that alone I would stand until someone took away my legs.

I owed him one.

I took an oath.

I turned to my prisoner and took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Until I found out that what I now knew was wrong, I would serve this cause, his cause, my cause and I would burn down any fucker who crossed my path.

I would save them one at a time if I had to, or all at once, whatever it took, because I took an oath and I owed The Great King Eric Northman for a night in Phuket when my world was so dark I never thought I would ever see the fucking light of day again.

I took Gyl's advice, and pocketed my logic as I embraced the crazy. The rest would sort itself out as I we moved forward.

The Ice Princess opened her cold eyes in what had been her Gran's kitchen and looked at Claudine.

"I need weapons."

32XXXXXXXXXX23

Outside, Claudine called out, "It's all right, you can come out now! The Warrior has arrived!" The bushes all around the side of the yellow brick road shook and out came tiny people, men and women with small swords, sticks, rakes, and hoes. "Munchkins! Come forth," she called again and after a few moments three dozen of them stood before us in formation on the yellow brick road.

Were they fucking kidding me?

A small man, slightly taller than the rest with a huge handlebar mustache came forward and stopped before us, bowing. "Claudine," he greeted her before rising and looking at me with no small amount of disappointment and disdain on his face. He was disappointed in me? Right? Embrace the crazy.

"Susan, this is the leader of the Munchkin Rebel force, Mayer Osgood Threwnoght, III." I looked at him, probably much the same way he was looking at me. Then I stowed that shit, remembering that when in the enemy land the greatest of resources were the locals.

"You were part of the forces that turned back Pamela and Katrina and fought Russell into a truce?" I asked.

"At your service," he said, smiling slightly. I looked in his eyes then and saw kindred. This little man had seen some shit go down. This little man had the same shadow that I saw in my own face when I looked in the mirror. This man had tried to save someone, too, once and had come up on the short end of that stick just like me. I bowed to him then. In a strange land with strange people I still knew a brother when I saw one.

When I rose he smiled at me, and motioned me to follow him. A short time later we were gathered around a fire in his camp, sharing a meal as he filled me in on the terrain and his troop locations. The handy little fucker even had a map of Oz.

"Our intel is that The Wizard has his weapons stored here," he said pointing at the mountains at the edge of Gilliken country, north of what was labeled The Emerald City, which I knew was once Eric's city and served now as Russell's stronghold. "Also he has a cache here," again he pointed this time to the South of his city at the foot of another mountain rage in Quadling Country. I took another bite of the stew that Mayor Osgood had provided, not the least bit hungry but not knowing where my next meal was coming from the soldier in me demanded I eat to be strong. After swallowing I turned to Claudine.

"You said you were of the South," I pointed at the map. "How is that Russell has a cache of weapons in your land?"

"You must understand, Susan, this war has turned brother against brother as the residents of Oz seek to survive. I do not rule in any land, I serve the Sacred Seven as Protectoress and guide the residents. Our King was our ruler, and now technically, Russell holds dominion over us all. No land is without loyalists to his cause." She hesitated then and I waited to see what was on her mind.

"Russell holds some power of his vassals. It's more than fear that binds them to him in these dark times. There is some magic afoot that holds his minions to his sway that we have not been able to identity and stop. It's a blinding madness that leaves devastation in its wake at the merest flick of his wrist."

"What is the population of Oz?"

"I don't know exactly, but roughly thirty thousand souls."

"And how many are under The Wizards power?"

"More than half, we believe."

"You believe?" She looked down then at the ground.

"Some are hidden, they pretend to serve the rebellion but are really spies for The Wizard." That made sense, after all Claudine had a spy in the Emerald City that had warned them of Russell's weapons.

"You have no means to identify who they are?"

"No. We have ferreted out some, but we never know for sure until we turn our backs and feel them press the blade close to our ribs. Often then it is too late and the damage is done."

"What do you do when you catch one?"

"We question them to learn what we can and then…" She didn't need to finish. In a war there was no time for prisons and courts of justice. That always came after the war was won. "The uncertainty makes it difficult to trust and to plan. That is why we need a leader from a place where Russell could not have reached. That is why we need you, Susan." Mayor Osgood stepped around the fire then and came to stand in front of me.

"Had The Great King Eric lived, you would have been made our Queen. We need you to be that now, even though he is no longer here. This battle or another like it would have fallen to you either way. Will you lead us, in The Great King's place?"

And there it was.

Claudine had been more delicate, and left me to wonder but I had assumed and agreed under that assumption that I was the woman in Phuket. That The Great King Eric had been my Eric. Now I had confirmation, of a sort.

"The Great King, describe him to me."

"He was tall and fair of hair, with eyes of the sky. He was a good man to the bone, fair and kind to all. We loved our King," Osgood said, still pinning me with his gaze and demanding my answer.

"As did I." I reached up from where I was crouching by the fire and placed my hand on Osgood's shoulder, squeezing gently. "I will fight for you in his place, Mayor of Munchkin land. I will fight to the death to protect what was his. You have my word and my oath. I am at your service." He looked deeply into my eyes, considering my words and then he placed his hand on my shoulders.

"And you Susan Stackhouse, have my word. I will fight for you unto my death in the name of The Great King."

"In the name of Eric," I told him, my heart burning in my chest like a bonfire.

"In the name of Eric!" the chant went up through all the munchkins and I felt at home for the first time since I had left Iraq. I had come home thinking I could run from who I had become and hide in who I had been but that had been logic on the crazy again.

I was a warrior, to the bone. It felt like I could breathe again, and I took a deep long one, letting that tension in my soul unfurl as I took in the clear clean air of Oz. I savored the moment because I knew that all too soon that air would be filled with blood and screams and the stench of death that I would be responsible for all over again.

I will make it count, I will make the sacrifice count! I swore it to Osgood, to Claudine, to Gyl, to Vic and Eric. Most of all though, I swore it to myself.

I would make it count.

We talked late into the night about where other rebel cells were hidden and how best to handle the weapons caches that we knew of, while we waited for further intel to reach us from the City. I looked at the map and asked them where they thought the best terrain would be for the standoff.

At first they didn't understand the question. They were adapted to guerilla fighting, attack and run, but I knew that our enemy wanted us and that gave us a tentative advantage. They would come to us no matter where we were, and to finally end this one way or the other we had to face them en masse and let the bodies fall where they would.

We could choose the best place for that to happen. It was the only thing we had going for us, a potential tactical advantage. After much back and forth Osgood and Claudine agreed on the Enchanted Forest in Winkie country that ran up against the edge of lands of the Emerald City.

First, if we had solid intel of where the weapons were cached it meant he would have to move them great distance for the final fight and second the poppy fields that stood between the Emerald City and the Enchanted Forest would present a problem of crossing. We could put our backs against the field and set up teams and traps in the woods.

"But you said they burned the forests of Oz? Wouldn't they just do the same here and kill us without even coming in?" Claudine smiled, and though she claimed to be a Good Witch there was nothing in her face at that moment that substantiated that title, in fact it was quite the opposite.

"The Enchanted Forest cannot be burned."

"Why is that?"

"Magic," she said, still smiling that chilly smile. I could come to like old Puffy Skirt, after all.

"The Enchanted Forest it is then," we agreed and turned in for a few hours rest. At dawn our party would break. Claudine and her fellow witches would spread the word and gather the rebels to rendezvous there.

Osgood and his troop would head south to the reported location of weapons and first get confirmation of its existence and either destroy them or steal them for our use in the coming battle.

I would head north to the cache rumored to be in Gilliken Country so I could do what I had been trained to do, reconnaissance. Along the way I would spread the word cautiously and send rebels to the meeting point when I could, or spread disinformation for the enemy when the chance presented itself. When I found the weapons I would either retrieve or destroy them, same as Osgood's mission.

That night, for the first time in three years, the bombs were silent.

32XXXXXXXXXX23

When I rose we broke our fast on bread and cheese and I packed up the essentials that I would need before abandoning the old farm house once and for all. I had left the others breaking up camp and had planned to head out as soon I finished gathering equipment and supplies. I took only what I would need knowing I had to travel light and fast. I only had three boxes of bullets for the Berretta, which would never be enough, but hoped it would see me through to the cache where I might find more or perhaps other guns and ammo that would service as well.

When I came out ready to go I was surprised to see Claudine, Osgood and another munchkin I had seen in camp last night but had not been introduced to. Also with them was a large purple horse.

Well, you don't see that every day. I took a step out into the yard and looked at them. After swearing my oath to fight in The Great King's place Osgood had started referring to me as Majesty. At first, I had been shocked and then amused. My tag was the Ice Princess, so was Majesty really that different?

"Majesty," Osgood bowed deeply before me and then rose to take a step to the side, placing the large purple horse directly in front of me.

"Majesty," the purple horse echoed and extended one foreleg to bow his horsy head. Right, talking Animals in Oz. Right.

"Horse," I said, just going with it. It would be over that much faster if I didn't apply logic to it.

"Colbert," the horse said, rising to stand in front of me. "I am The Horse of a Different Color. You may have heard of me." Well, technically, I had heard of him since I was a child, but usually it was Gran's way of telling me I was wrong about something. "Sookie, that's a horse of a different color…" Gran would have loved this fucking place. I nodded my head again.

"We spoke of you often when I was a child, great and noble steed." To my surprise Colbert changed from a somber purple to a deep shade of rose red. I could feel his pleasure at my response resonate from his chameleon change.

"You are too kind, Majesty," his tone matching his color. I had made a friend. Who knew that could happen?

"Susan, Colbert will carry you on your travels," Claudine explained stepping up now. "Also, Toto will accompany you as a guide and assist you as needed until we meet again at the rendezvous point." I looked then at the little Munchkin hiding behind Osgood. She was very small, and looked to be very young as well, though I had a hard time knowing that their true ages might be. I knelt down. Our company had often employed translators in Iraq, and I knew that having one could be incredibly advantageous on this strange mission in a strange land.

"Toto?" I said and motioned for her to come forth.

"Majesty," she said softly, bowing deeply before me.

"Why do you want to come on this trip with me?" I needed to know where her heart was. A translator would be golden. I home sick weepy child would be a dead weight that I could not afford.

"When I was a very small Munchkin The Great King Eric was passing through our lands and he stopped at our home for refreshment. I had been very ill and my parents feared for my life. The Great King stopped his troupe and summoned the Good Witch Glinda to attend me. He stayed by my side until my fever broke and then a bit longer to tell me stories and make sure I was well." She looked up at me then, her brown eyes so sincere and filled with love for her King that my heart ached.

I could see him in my mind caring for this tiny girl with the same tenderness he had used to care for me.

"He told me of his travels and the wonders he had seen. He was truly a Great King. I would stand with you against those who hurt him, if you will have me." The last was said with a fierce determination that impressed even the hard warrior inside me. I might regret it, but I could not turn her away. Having Toto with me in this moment made me feel closer to Eric, and I needed that, more than I cared to admit.

"Honorable Toto, I take you gladly." I smiled at her and rose to stand before the steed. "Noble steed, I take you gladly as well and I thank you both for your service." If Toto could change colors I am sure she would have rivaled Colbert in his rosy bloom.

How in the Sam Humping Hill world did I get here?

Moments later I was on the back of Colbert, and Claudine handed Toto up to me so I could sit her in front of me. Colbert had no reigns and no saddle so I held tight to his mane as we started down the yellow brick road.


	4. The Riptide

_Moments later I was on the back of Colbert, and Claudine handed Toto up to me so I could sit her in front of me. Colbert had no reigns and no saddle so I held tight to his mane as we started down the yellow brick road._

32XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX23

**The Rainbows End: The Riptide (Dreaming Your Life Away)**

"Sookie, could we slow down for a while? Please?"

"No, Compton, we can't. Either keep up or go your own way."

Toto and I had been traveling for two days when we ran into Compton. The Scarecrow had been standing in a field at an intersection of the yellow brick road. I had been consulting with Toto and Colbert as to which was the quickest way to our destination when the Scarecrow threw his two cents in for traveling down the right hand path.

I shot him in the head before he his sentence was finished.

I learned that day that a bullet has no impact on men of straw.

By the next day I knew how unfortunate that circumstance was because after some considerable whining over his wrongful wound he had somehow gotten himself off the post and started following us.

Colbert recommended the left hand route, so that was the one took. We had traveled at least ten miles before Compton finally shut the fuck up about how we should have gone right. I suspected this happy circumstance was due to his need to focus on keeping his weak spineless body moving at pace with Colbert, who had turned a most unpleasant shade of puce, clearly indicating he did not care for our new companion.

Personally, I was just pissed that I had wasted a bullet on his spineless ass. I was pulled from my musings when I heard Compton whistling and then singing as he traveled behind us.

_Something, something, if I only had a brain._

I knew how he felt.

If I had a brain I would get down off Colbert and light his ass up with one of the precious matches I carried from home. If he kept up that fucking mumbling I might do it yet, but I needed the matches, and I still had hope that he would lose interest and go his own way, soon.

Hope is almost as big a bitch as karma.

Toto did not care for him either. She hadn't said anything but she had been very free with the fire last night, accidentally flinging several flaming branches at Compton as she prepared our evening meal. Finally, after jumping up twice, squealing and flailing away he had taken up space a safe distance from the fire. I saw her hide a smile and I did, too.

Toto would have made an excellent Marine. Zero bitching, completely focused on the mission and ready to take out any obstructions in her way. I liked her more every day. By turn I also liked Eric more because he had saved her. Almost like he had known I would come to need her one day.

I wanted to think of him, really think of him, like I hadn't let myself since our one night. I had kept him tucked away and safe but I needed him now. It wasn't possible though because it was too risky to indulge in a distraction like that memory when I needed to focus on our surroundings.

Compton surprising me into firing at him, what I had thought to be an inanimate object, had at least served to remind me that I was not in Louisiana anymore.

Every fucking thing around me was a potential enemy. Meaning that to everything around me we were a potential fucking target. I needed to stay frosty.

Thoughts of Eric made me anything but frosty.

When Compton had abandoned camp in fear of his straw I had asked Toto and Colbert if Straw Men were common in Oz. They had said not particularly, mostly because they were a sneaky lot. You could never tell where you stood with a Straw Man. Their true allegiance was only to themselves, and that made them dangerous.

Knowing that we may have been infiltrated made the uneasy feeling he gave me increase when he started asking questions. His first being my name. It was instinct that made me tell him it was Sookie. It was unlikely he knew who Susan Stackhouse was, but it was not worth the chance.

Toto and Colbert had also said that Straw Men were not welcome in many places, which is why you were apt to see them standing alone in fields. Given how annoying he was I didn't need to ask why they were pariahs. It was so fucking obvious that I would occasionally take out my matches and count them from time to time.

Whatever Compton was, he wasn't dumb. When he saw the matches he would shut right the fuck up, for at least a little while. We were nearing a cabin beside the road when Compton found his voice again.

"Sookie, you never told me where you were headed. Perhaps I could recommend a short cut and get you there faster." He was talking very fast now and had worked to come up beside Colbert who was moving at a decent clip. My focus was on the potential ambush ahead. "There are many nice places around her we could stop for the evening-" I turned on him vicious and fast like a snake.

"Shut the fuck up, Compton or I will smoke you were you stand." He came to a halt, his expression was drawn on his cloth face, so it could not register shock, but I felt it from him anyway. He had not seen this side of me before, but he had been around long enough to recognize the cold icy way I would love to set him on fire.

Keeping him pinned with my gaze, I tugged Colbert's mane and when he stopped I slid to the road. Compton shuffled back a few steps, clearly afraid. I held him in my cold stare a moment longer, impressing upon him the seriousness of my threat before turning back to Toto.

"You stay on Colbert and hang back. Let me go ahead and check out that cabin." She nodded, her little face looking fierce as she pulled out a tiny dagger and held it close. I wanted to hug her, but that would break both our tough warrior facades, so I touched her hand and nodded approval instead. She got the message. She was fucking awesome. Colbert, too. I stopped to rub his long gray neck, his color having changed as he sensed my tension.

"You be ready to get her out of here if this is a trap," I whispered in his ear. He nodded his head and then looked around sharply, taking in his surroundings for the best escape route if this went sideways on us.

For just a second I wondered what Gyl and Vic would think of my new recruits and I knew that once they got past the idea of Munchkins and talking Animals they would have been just as fucking impressed as I was.

Family knew family when they found each other, even if they had never met before, and it was the blood you spilled together not the blood in your veins that made the true bonds.

I pulled my gun and approached the cabin in a crouching run, all my focus in that small building and its surroundings. I had confidence in Toto and Colbert to watch my back.

This was the first structure that we had come near in our travels, which might or might not mean something. Everything here was so fucking strange I had just decided that everything was suspect.

Coming up to the fence that ran along the edge of the road in front of the cabin I crouched down to listen. Nothing. I moved toward the door of the cabin and braced my back against the wall beside it, listening intently. Nothing again. I reached down and cautiously tried the door handle, it turned easily so I opened the door and pushed it open remaining in position. Nothing, again. Crouching low, I went in.

Quickly scanning the room I saw that it looked unused for some time. A think coat of dust covered everything. Along one wall hung several axes and on the small table in front of the window was an oil can. Other than these things, the place was empty of everything but the dust. I noticed a back door that was partially ajar. I moved with stealth to that and peeked around quickly taking a look.

Someone was out there. I froze and listened. Nothing. Taking another quick look I saw that they hadn't moved, which was odd because their arms were raised, with an axe in their hand. I pulled back and waited. Still nothing. Cautiously, I opened the door wider and was prepared to step out when Compton burst through the front door.

"SOOKIE!" he screamed. I wanted so fucking much to shoot him, but I was in the cold icy zone that always took me on recon missions and I knew that bullet would be wasted.

_I'll get back to you, bitch. _

Since my stealth was now blown I burst through the backdoor and rolled into a crouched firing position aiming at the unsub frozen in mid swing in the back yard. Still no movement.

"Sookie! We need to go! Now!" Compton yelled from the doorway and as I cut a dirty look back at him I saw him slip the dusty oil can into the pocket of his overalls. I stood and moved around to face the unsub. It was a Tin Man. Scratch that.

It was a rusted Tin Man, frozen in mid chop of a log. I looked at him for a long moment wondering what the fuck this shit was about when Compton squealed again from the doorway.

"Sookie!" Holstering my useless gun I moved toward Compton, grabbing him by his neck when reached him, taking him through the cabin and back out to the front. He wriggled in my grasp, but he was made of straw, Toto could have held him without breaking a sweat. I motioned for Colbert to come forward and when he arrived I threw Compton to the ground and motioned for Colbert to step on his chest.

I got tingly when he screamed.

It was the most pleasant sound he had made since we had met. I took the matches out of my pocket and poised one to strike.

"Who is that in the yard?" I sounded remarkably frosty considering my insides were shaking in anticipation of shutting him up once and for all.

"No one! It's no one!" Compton screamed, writhing under Colbert's leg.

"Not only are you annoying moldy piece of shit, but you're a liar to boot, Compton. You know who that is back there and you have done everything you can to stop us from finding him, starting with your bullshit take a right instead of a left. You have exactly five seconds to spill or I will strike this match and put us both out of our misery!"

"No! I only worry for your safety, Sookie! I swear it! I know nothing of the man back there! Please you must believe me!" I reached into his pocket and pulled out the oil can he had stashed there.

"Try again."

"I took that for trade down the road. It might be worth something! I might be able to trade it for lodging for our companions or food. Please, I need nothing! I was only thinking of you, Sookie!"

This was going nowhere fast. "Keep him here," I told Colbert as I turned back into the cabin with the oil can. I stopped before the tall Tin Man and looked at him, uncertain how to proceed. I reached out tentatively and touched him with a finger.

"Ouch!" I jerked back, my finger bleeding. I hadn't seen any sharp edges on him, but somehow I had cut myself. I sucked the wound as I studied him closer. He was tall, well over six feet and the layer of rust on him was pretty thick, indicating that he had stood out here for some time. I looked at the oil can and then back at him. _ Logic over crazy_, I thought for the millionth time since I had crash landed in this David Lynch film. Shrugging, I placed the oil can over his lips and squeezed out a few drops.

At first nothing happened, and then he rubbed his lips together like a woman applying lipstick. A moment later his lips opened and he whispered, "Thank you." Encouraged I moved on to his shoulder and arms applying the oil liberally. He dropped the axe and sighed heavily. I went on to his waist joints and finally his long metal legs. A few moments later he took a tentative step and started moving his arms and legs like they were stiff and was trying to wake them up.

No that was what a human would do. He was moving the oil deeper into his joints and loosening up as he went. When he did a small jig I knew that he had broken free of the rust completely, and I don't know why but it made me feel good to see him that way. When he came to stand before me and bow I burst out laughing. Again, I had no idea why.

"Thank you, dear lady. Thank you ever so much!" He rose with his hand over his heart and I saw for the first time that he had the most beautiful blue eyes. A Tin Man with blue eyes. Who knew there were such wonders? "May I have your name, dear lady?"

"Susan," I told him, "But please call me Sookie." Really? You're flirting with a Tin Man? Get a grip Stackhouse!

"Sookie," he said in a deep voice, a much deeper voice than I would have expected from a creature like this. "A pleasure. I am Hammerby, a humble Tin Man, at your service, Milady."

"How did you come to be frozen here, Hammerby?"

"A foolish error. I came out to chop wood and forgot my oil can. A rain shower took me by surprise and I have been here since." A shadow passed over his handsome Tin Face. "It feels like it's been a life time." Wanting to console him I looked for something comforting to say.

"Well, you're free now." He looked up at me, and smiled.

"Thanks to you. How may I be of service to you, Sookie?" I was about to wave him off when I considered the potential benefits of a metal warrior in my travels.

"Other than rust, what weaknesses do you have, Hammerby?"

"None that I am aware of. I can travel at speed and never tire. I don't need to eat and I never sleep. I can swing an axe with the best of them. Have you need of such a man, Sookie?"

Was that supposed to sound sexy?

Cause it fucking did.

Fuck, maybe I had been thinking of Eric more than I realized because here I was getting lubed up over lubing a Tin Man up.

Shaking my head, I tried to put my tiger back in her cage. "Come with me." I expected him to clank and clink as he walked, but he moved with an oily grace that did nothing to calm the strange and untoward thoughts my twisted mind were having.

We came out the front to find Colbert still standing on Compton with Toto still on his back, her dagger at the ready.

"Toto, Colbert, this is Hammerby, the Tin Man. Hammerby, these are my comrades Colbert, The Horse of a Different Color, and Toto."

"A noble steed," Hammerby said, causing Colbert to turn a regal shade of blue. "And a lovely companion indeed in Lady Toto," causing her turn a very charming shade of pink.

Hammerby was a hit all the way around.

"What about me? If you don't trust me, how can you trust the likes of him?" Compton whined from below. He had a point. Both were strangers to me, but one felt wrong and one felt right. My companions agreed, I could tell in the way they smiled at Hammerby and scowled at Compton.

We were in complete agreement that one was acceptable and the other was not. As a soldier I had learned that trusting my instincts could often be the difference between life and death.

"Do you know the Straw Man, Hammerby?" I asked him, watching for any sign of deception. He bent down with his freshly oiled joints and looked more closely.

"No, I do not know this creature," he said sounding certain, but there was something in his voice that sounded like anger.

"Are you sure?" He hesitated but then confirmed that he did not know the Scarecrow.

"He seems to know you. He went to great lengths to keep us from finding you and then went so far as to hide your oil can when we did." Hammerby looked at him again but there was no sign of recognition on his handsome tin face. He then turned to me and gave me an appraising look. After a long moment he went down on bended knee at my feet.

My heart did a double beat.

What the fuck was that about?

"Sookie," he said in that deep voice that was way too deep for Tin Man to have. "Milady, Sookie. I pledge you my axe and my fealty to the end of the yellow brick road. Have you a need for me?"

A great big fucking-

I shut that shit down and took a deep breath before looking to Toto and Colbert. One was smiling and the other had changed from blue to a red rosy hue again. That would be a yes, all the way around-

"Yes," I said.

"Then I am yours, Sookie. Do with me as you will."

Another deep cleansing breath. Stay frosty.

"Then get your axe. We need to deal with the Scarecrow."

In the end we tied him up and left him in the Tin Man's cabin. He screamed until we could no longer hear him and probably long after. I was walking beside Hammerby, while Toto rode with Colbert. I could not explain it but it felt good to have him there with me, like suddenly this whole fucking mess didn't rest on me completely, which was foolish.

First, he was just a Tin Man, second he was my soldier, awaiting my commands. I was more in charge than ever, and now I had another solider to care for as we traveled further into danger in search of the Wizard's secret cache of weapons.

After a while I swung up onto Colbert's back behind Toto, and asked him to gallop awhile to make up for lost time. Looking to my right I saw Hammerby easily keeping pace on his smooth metal joints, his axe strapped to his back and a gentle smile on his face.

I must have stared too long because Toto elbowed me in the ribs and cut me a grin of her own. I rolled my eyes and snorted at both her foolishness and my own.

Still, every now and then I would glance at my knight in shining armor and try to wipe the goofy grin off my own face as we traveled on.


	5. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

_After a while I swung up onto Colbert's back behind Toto, and asked him to gallop awhile to make up for lost time. Looking to my right I saw Hammerby easily keeping pace on his smooth metal joints, his axe strapped to his back and a gentle smile on his face. _

_I must have stared too long because Toto elbowed me in the ribs and cut me a grin of her own. I rolled my eyes and snorted at both her foolishness and my own. _

_Still, every now and then I would glance at my knight in shining armor and try to wipe the goofy grin off my own face as we traveled on._

**The Rainbows End: Ain't No Rest for The Wicked (Cage the Elephant)**

_Eric's touch set me on fire in the bar and then like magic we were in his room, my body covered only in his kisses. I was frantic, needing him everywhere and he was mystical in his ability to satisfy that need. "Sookie," he whispered between kisses, memorizing my name as he did my flesh. _

_I wanted to know his the same way but couldn't stand the idea of stopping him to get my turn. Interruption felt profane in his worship of me. I moaned as his lips latched on one of my hard nipples, moisture pooling between my thighs, there was only him, and all the time in the world would never be enough to cross the continents of this man before me. I needed…Hammerby!_

I sat up, covered in sweat and aching in all my feminine places. Fuck! I folded my body in half, head down as my arms came up to rest on my knees. I was shaking and panting like I had run a mile in ten seconds and been denied the finish line that had been in my adrenalized sights.

It was unbearable!

Rolling up quickly, I left my bedroll near the fire and wandered to the edge of the dark. I needed a moment, and this small distance right outside the light of our fire was as far as I could go and still monitor the welfare of my soldiers.

I was tethered.

I was burning.

I was alone.

No, I wasn't alone, and that was at least part of the problem. Glancing back I saw Toto curled in her own bedroll, Colbert stood dozing his face out in the night and his backside at the fire. It was his way of keeping guard, he'd told me when I asked. I looked then, my eyes having adjusted to the darkness and thought I could make our true sentinel a dozen or so yards away in the dark. _I never sleep_, he had said, and as far as I could tell he did not. _ I don't need to eat, _and as yet he never had. _I can run at speed and never tire,_ and this too was true to his word as far as I could tell.

What he did need though, at the end of each hard and dusty day, was his oil can. Like an alcoholic needs a drink, like an addict needs a fix. Each evening as we settled in he could come to me for his can and then retreat to the edge of the firelight and oil his joints.

That was what had started this.

At least that what I blamed it on.

For two nights after he joined us I watched him perform this ritual. It harkened back to Gyl cleaning her gun, the one we had always teased her about, drawing comparisons to cocks and lovers at home waiting for her delicate, sensitive, dedicated touch.

At first I had smiled, and then I had stopped smiling, entranced watching him move with grace and ease as the motion lotion settled into his joints and he folded himself into impossible positions for maximum reach.

_If he only had a hard…_

I knew I was in trouble when that random thought floated through my mind. I shook myself, and summoned our platoon Sgt. Major Sixta in my mind to save me from this road to hell.

_"__Marines has gots to takes care of deyselves! Regelation hairs, regulation uniforms, regulation uniforms! It's your jobs to takes care of de Marine Machine!"_ Hearing that ridiculous voice in my head again cooled me right the fuck down, just like it had back in country.

I had turned away that night and dwelled in memories of all the nicknames we had for that little son of a bitch. He was hated universally, by our troop and all others, even by myself for all the hell he put me through about keeping my shirt tucked and my hair at regulation length. That is until I overheard him talking to the LT's Right Hand right after mail call.

We were boxed in deep in a city ghetto, surrounded by hostile fire when the mail from home came in. One of them got a Dear John from his wife's lawyer. We all knew that was some cold shit man, but it happened way more than it should have.

No one was surprised when as short time after the Marine had said he was fine he was kicking shit over and spoiling for a fight. I had been standing off to the side, when I heard Sixta tell the Right Hand, _"You lets me know if morales gets down, I'll hit 'em with The Grooming Standard and fire 'em up good."_

It clicked for me then that the Sgt. Major's job in this Marine Corp was to make himself a target for all our rage and anger. He was the bravest little son of a bitch in the Corp. Forty days in country, running on an average of thirty hours no sleep, chomping Ripped Fuel like Skittles and the orders down from the top that seemed to make as much sense as six million monkeys on six million type writers, and this little fucker would holler about tucking our shirts in so we could focus all that rage, all that anger, all that fucking hate on him.

I stopped calling him names after that. I didn't try and stop the others, because he was doing what the Corp paid him to do. I knew that my glimpse behind his curtain was for my benefit only. The rest would see if they needed to, until then, he was doing what he was made to do.

Sixta was an asshole, and as one of my fellow Marines had said one day, he excelled at the position.

_I wish that little fucker was here with me now,_ I thought as I looked at my Tin Man out there in the dark. He would keep me focused. He would keep me nailed down and together.

Maybe.

His, "_Marines gots to take care of deyselves,"_ was his tacit approval for, among other things, what the guys called Combat Jacks. It was the Corps way of acknowledging that even well-oiled stone cold killing machines required different kinds of maintenance and attention.

_Well-oiled machines…_

And here I was again recalling the trigger that had awakened the woman in the warrior…

Hammerby had been so beautiful in the firelight that night. Toto was busy prepping rations, and Colbert was off rooting for grass. I had watched him try and get to this one spot that seemed to be giving him trouble for several minutes when I stood and offered to help him.

I had held my hand out for his oil can, and when his blue eyes met mine the rest of the world just faded away. He had stared me for a long time before he placed the can in my hand and whispered, "Thank you." Something big had rolled over inside me, something big and dark and intense. Ignoring it I had oiled the trouble spot and when he moved cautiously and successfully I should have handed the can back.

I should have.

But I kept going.

Standing on tip toe I dripped oil down the back of his long graceful neck. He dropped his head from side to side, working it in, moaning in pleasure. Hypnotized, I went on, down the back of him, applying the oil, ignoring that I was getting slick at the same time from the sound of his deep moans.

The back done, I moved to the front of him, and when he pinned me in his blue stare again, I moaned. There was so much pleasure in his eyes, so much heat I feared that one or both of us would melt. I kept going anyway though getting the front of him as I had the back, and when I finished I was kneeling at this feet, looking all the way up at him so many things swirling in my mind.

"Sookie," he said softly, reaching to me with his cool hand that gently cupped my face. My eyes fluttered as I rested my face there in the palm of his large hand.

Then it hit me what I was doing, what I wanted to be doing there with him, and most of all that I was in the middle of war zone, surrounded by enemies and I was thinking impure thoughts about a Tin Man.

I know I turned red, and I was glad that my back was to the fire and no one could see. I had quickly handed the oil can back and fled as far as my tether would allow, humiliated and still needing what could not happen. Not just because it wasn't physically possible, but because it was irresponsible to let myself be distracted.

That night the dreams had started. My memories of Eric melded with my desires for Hammerby and I would wake up trembling on the edge of release. That was three night ago and it was getting worse.

"_Marines gots to take care of deyselves,"_ Sixta's ghost mumbled in my jumbled brain. I blew out a frustrated sigh and gave in, there was nothing else to do. My hand slid down the front of my camo and started moving in the wet heat there. _Fuuuuuck,_ I thought, trying to keep the sounds of my pleasure as quiet as possible. I didn't want to wake my sleeping companions. I was so focused on what I was doing that like a POG I let my guard drop and chased my orgasm. Despite my bodies readiness my mind was holding me back and I couldn't make it happen.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I hissed in the dark, trying that much harder for what was literally slipping through my fingers. I didn't hear him until I felt him press his long hard cool body against my back, his arms coming around me, his hands resting on my trembling stomach muscles.

He didn't speak, instead he kissed my neck, his breath as cool as the rest of him across my goose bump flesh. I leaned back into him, letting my frustrated body take comfort in his embrace. My other hand came up to rest on his long neck, giving as Sixta had, tacit permission for him to do what I so desperately needed.

I whimpered when his cool hand slipped down to replace my own, his hand chilly gave me a start at first, and I trembled against him, closing my eyes and turning my head from side to side. "Shhh," he said, and a moment later his hand had absorbed the heat from between my legs and it felt like he was a part of me. It was then that he started to move just like I needed him to.

My hips pressed against him, and moaned as he moved at better than human speed to bring me to release. I muffled my cries as best I could, but it felt so fucking good I was pretty sure The Wizard himself sat up in the Emerald City and looked around in wonder at just what the fuck that had been about.

I didn't care right then.

I might care later.

Maybe.

When my legs gave way Hammerby caught me and then sat on the ground pulling me into his hard lap so that my head could rest against his metal chest. I think I nodded off for a few minutes at least. He was humming softly when I opened my eyes again, rocking me gently. I hadn't felt this good since…

_Oh, Eric! _I sobbed quietly, unable to keep it down any longer. I was too undone to be the Ice Princess who had accepted the loss of her Great King Eric as a matter of course and headed out on the march to battle.

_I believed you, goddamnit! I believed you would find me, and you went and lied and died. Fuck you, liar!_

Hammerby rocked me harder as I cried, his hand on the back of my head like I was little girl. Finally, I ran out of tears, and I just laid in his arms quietly as he rocked me.

"You don't have a heartbeat," I whispered to him in the night. He chuckled softly.

"That's because I have no heart, dearest Sookie."

"Bullshit!" After what had just happened, after what he had just done, I called bullshit.

"Tis true," he said, leaning down to kiss my forehead softly. Eric had kissed me like that. I hiccupped, and nearly started crying again.

"What happened to it?"

"I tell myself I gave it to some lovely maiden in a strange land," he stopped then sounding thoughtful, "but in truth, I know not."

"I did that once," I told him, my hand coming up to rest on his empty chest.

"What's that, dearest Sookie?"

"I gave my heart to handsome stranger in a strange city."

"And how did that turn out?"

"He broke his promise and now I am about to lead the residents of Oz in a last time pays for all war with The Wizard of Oz." He was silent a moment.

"Not so good then?" I giggled. My Tin Man was the master of sarcasm. It was an underappreciated art form.

"Not so good," I confirmed, smiling.

"Is it better now, Sookie?" I knew what he meant. He had wicked sharp hearing and I was sure he had heard me moaning in my bedroll these past three nights.

"Yes, thank you, Hammerby." I placed a soft kiss on his chest.

"You are very welcome, my Sookie."

32XXXXXXXXXX23

We were making good time on the next day when the hair on the back of my neck stood up, a sure sign that someone had eyes on me. On alert I started to track the movement in the bushes to our right. I signaled Colbert to slow down and noticed that whoever was the bushes matched our speed.

A short time later I called a halt for a break. I took a drink of water and handed it to Toto, alerting her with my eyes that were not alone. She pulled her dagger again and took a sip of water before putting the canteen away. I moved around, stretching, pausing to scratch Colbert's ears, whispering at the same time. He nodded and casually looked around, knowing that he should run depending on what happened next.

Hammerby had casually unstrapped his axe and was checking the edge when I came up beside him. His eyes told me that he too knew that we were no longer alone.

"I need to take a tree," I said and wandered off back down the way we had come, planning to circle back up behind our new friend. Hammerby stayed put, and kept his axe at the ready.

Moving with stealth I came back up behind the brush and saw someone hiding in there. "COME OUT NOW!" I yelled in my most authoritative voice. The unsub screamed a high girly scream and leaped through the brush out onto the yellow brick road.

"Don't hurt me, don't hurt me!" he yelled. When I fought my through the brush I was astounded to see a lion sitting on his hind quarters with his huge front paws in the air. Hammerby was ready to strike and Colbert was ready to run. Well, he was ready to run until the Lion burst into tears.

I looked at Hammerby, my eyebrow raised in question. He shrugged, but remained on guard in case this was a trick. I let the Lion go on for a bit and then finally, I couldn't take anymore.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He immediately fell silent, dropped his front paws to the ground, stuck his head under them, and balled his huge body up into as tiny a ball as possible. He was still sniffling but other than that he was silent.

"Why are you following us, Lion?"

"La-La-Lafayette." He finally got out.

"What the fuck is a Lafayette?"

"M-m-me," he moaned out from under his paws.

"Lafayette, why are you following us?"

"The P-P-Python sent me to get you." I rolled my eyes.

"Straighten the fuck up, solider! Stop your blubbering and answer me like you got some fucking sense!" He snapped to then, sitting straight and sharp. The only sign that he was still under duress was the quivering of his large tan body and the tears that still ran like a river down his face. "Start at the beginning and explain yourself!"

"The Python s-sent me to get you, Sgt. Stackhouse. I am to bring you before Th-The C-Council." I looked at my companions. Their faces clearly showed surprise, even Colbert who had changed to yellow. Caution.

All right then. The only Python I knew of was the one from my dreams, and that one had said I was called.

The way this crazy fucking place ran, the snake was probably running this show.

"We have a mission right now. We are two days out from our destination and I have no intention of turning around now."

"A-After. I am to take you after."

"And do you know where we are headed?"

"W-W-Wizards weapons cache at the foot of the Gilliken Mountains."

"And who gave you this information, Lafayette?"

"C-C-Claudine."

"And where is Claudine now?"

"W-With The Council."

"And your mission?"

"T-To accompany you to the weapons. A-Assist as possible, and then return with you to The Council before the final battle."

I looked to my companions. Hammerby nodded, Toto nodded, though more cautiously and then Colbert spoke.

"Animals stand to lose the most if this doesn't go our way. We are hunted now, but will be completely annihilated if The Wizard succeeds."

I stopped to make it look like I was thinking it over, but really I had no choice other than to rely on my own instincts and my companions worldly knowledge. I moved closer to the Lion and gave him a cold hard stare into his eyes before I rendered my verdict.

"You may join my company, and I will protect you as I will the others with my life, but know this, Lion. If you betray us, if harm befalls anyone of my people because of you and your cowardly ways I will kill you myself and take your skin for a trophy. You picking up what I'm laying down?"

It was harsh I know, but I needed him to know who was in charge, and I needed him to know how fucking serious I was about it. His cowardice turned my stomach. I was wise enough to know that it bothered me so much because I saw so much of myself in him, but that only made me hate it and resent him for it all the more.

No one likes a mirror in front of them that they don't choose to hold for themselves. They like to prepare themselves before they look at who they are.

"Yes, Sgt. Stackhouse!"

"That's more fucking like it! Break over, back on the road, troops!"

32XXXXXXXXXXXXX23

Later, I was just about to call camp for the night when ahead of us a figure stepped out onto the yellow brick road. Despite the dusk of evening I recognized the silhouette instantly.

Compton.

And I knew firsthand how slow that fucker was, so he didn't get this far ahead of us without some help. As the realization hit me full force that shit was about to go down two things happened.

First, the cool veil of the Ice Princess slipped over my vision, bringing everything into sharp focus as my battle instincts came on line.

Second, that tattoo on my shoulder, those fucking Ruby Slippers started to burn.

The first wave of the true storm had arrived at last.

Hoo-rah!


	6. Don't You Find?

_Later, I was just about to call camp for the night when ahead of us a figure stepped out onto the yellow brick road. Despite the dusk of evening I recognized the silhouette instantly. _

_Compton._

_And I knew firsthand how slow that fucker was, so he didn't get this far ahead of us without some help. As the realization hit me full force that shit was about to go down two things happened. _

_First, the cool veil of the Ice Princess slipped over my vision, bringing everything into sharp focus as my battle instincts came on line._

_Second, that tattoo on my shoulder, those fucking Ruby Slippers started to burn._

_The first wave of the true storm had arrived at last._

_Hoo-rah!_

**The Rainbows End: Don't You Find? (Carry On The Grudge)**

I stopped Colbert with a gentle tug on his mane and slid down onto the yellow brick road. I calmly checked my weapon and then turned to Hammerby. "Ready?" He nodded, axe at the ready. I looked at Toto and she was not only sporting her usual dagger but a gleeful expression that told me she was ready to put it on the line. I walked up beside Colbert.

"I smell magic," he said to me softly, his large body tensed and ready to face whatever was coming. The Lion, Lafayette, came up beside me. He looked grim.

"You ready for this?"

"I'm more scared of you than whatever might be out there," he said glancing over at me. He was hardly shaking at all.

"That just proves you aren't as dumb as I thought you were," I told him, setting my hand on his head for moment in reassurance. He purred a little, despite his nervousness. I knew I had been hard on him, but it had done what I needed it to do. He would fight for us now, come what may. I took a moment to thank the Corp for my experience there. It might not be enough, but then again, it be just what this rag tag bunch needed.

"I'll take point," I said to my crew and started toward Compton on foot, weapon holstered, but at the ready. I was ice cold, except for that tattoo, it was on fire. I expected any minute for it to get so hot that it became a distraction, but it held steady and instead of a distraction it felt like it was a warm blanket of protection around me.

My crew followed, back just a little, with Hammerby at the rear to make sure no one came up behind us. I wondered as I scanned the surrounding area of he had seen battle before. I had never thought to ask.

I would remember to ask when this was over.

I was that certain that we would all right.

When I reached Compton I stopped three or four yards in front of him and waited. There was an explosion between us and out of large puff of green smoke that smelled of sulfur stepped a beautiful woman with long red hair. She was dressed in a tight black dress that drug the ground behind her. The front was cut in a V that went almost to her belly button. I'd have bet my next paycheck she was wearing heels under that get up.

_She needed Sixta to talk to her about the groomin' standard_. The thought made me smile, the red head thought I was smiling at her, because she smiled back. _Dumb as stump, too, I thought. Sixta would love this fucking bitch._

"Sgt. Susan Stackhouse, of Louisiana, I believe?" she asked in a velvety voice.

"And you would be?"

"Sophie Ann Leclerq, but around these parts they call me the Wicked Witch of the East." She inclined her head to me, her eyes never leaving mine. I held my position.

Marines didn't give a fuck about détente.

I was ready to get down to business. My finger was itching for the trigger.

"It's so nice to finally meet you at last, Susan." At least one of us thought so.

"I sent Compton to bring you to me, and well, as you know, he failed in his mission. So, I came for you myself. The Wizard would like to talk to you." I raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask because I didn't really give a fuck.

One of us was dying here, and I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be me. Apparently, she had yet to get the memo. Maybe she was too dumb to read?

When it happened it happened fast.

She jerked her right arm, a look of triumph on her evil face. I was reaching for my gun when I felt the heat in my tattoo spike, driving down to my bones, still not hurting, but I definitely knew it was there.

The intensity of the sensation broke my reach for my weapon but it also seemed to break her efforts to do whatever she had been trying to do. She hesitated, her face a mask of wonder that I had not been affected by her magic.

She conjured a fireball and hurled it at me. I felt my tattoo dig into me again, but this time I was ready.

Her fireball deflected harmlessly from the invisible shield that seemed to be around me. I raised my other eyebrow, just as surprised as she was. For just a moment I saw Dish smiling at me in the tattoo parlor and wondered just what the fuck her had done to me?

Then, as I had done since I got here, I just decided to roll with it.

It was then that Compton spoke for the first time. "Madame, you were told she bears the mark." The Witch's expression changed for a moment she looked scared and then she thought of another tactic and her face changed to one of triumph.

"She might indeed bear the Ruby Slippers but her companions do not!"

She conjured another fireball, and I knew what came next. I heard Hammerby call out behind me, and then I prayed that Dish had really known what the fuck he was doing. I extended my arms and willed the protection of his fucked up little tat to protect the others as well.

The Witch threw the fireball at Colbert and Toto. The fire of my brand went deep inside me this time, pressing into all my bones, pulling on some force inside me that I could not see and could not hope to measure.

It felt so fucking incredible that I hoped it never stopped, even though I instinctively knew that if it didn't it would be the end of me.

And I was absolutely at peace with that thought.

The fireball was deflected, this time bouncing with the force at which it was hurled, flying back and landing squarely on Compton who made my dreams come true by bursting into flames.

Hammerby came up beside me as Compton screamed and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Sophie looked back at me, her face a mask of wonder and rage and then her eyes fell on Hammerby.

"No! No! It's not possible! You can't be-"

I silenced her with a bullet to the brain.

I wasn't sure it would work, and if so much had not been happening, Compton dying on the ground screaming beside her, Hammerby shocking her with his appearance, she likely would have deflected or disappeared as Claudine had done, but she was very distracted.

And a moment later she was very dead.

Hammerby to a step toward Compton, but I put my hand on his arm stopping him. He had proven to be too difficult to interrogate, and he seemed to have some pretty nasty allies, better to let him die now and save me a match, because there was no turning back from that road.

One way or another that fucker was dead.

I turned back to my companions. Toto looked triumphant, Colbert, too. Lafayette looked more scared of me than ever. Hammerby, well Hammerby just looked sad.

Some soldiers took it that way, believing that the cost of victory was too high.

I was not one of those. Not right now anyway.

I was still fucking high from the sensation of that tattoo protecting everyone and elated to have defeated Compton and the Witch who had come to take me from the course I had chosen.

I wanted to sing, and dance and celebrate.

And then, it passed. My legs grew weak, my vision started to go blacker than the night we now found ourselves in. "Hammerby…" I whispered and then I felt myself fall into the soft black of unconsciousness.

32XXXXXXXXX23

I opened my eyes to see two very blue, very worried eyes staring down at me. "Hammerby?" I whispered and tried to sit up.

"No!" Toto said firmly, stepping around Hammerby to look down at me sternly. "You stay down!" She pointed her little finger at me to emphasize her point. I fell back, quite sure from the way I was feeling right now that she could kick my ass.

"What happened?" She passed me a cup of water.

"You collapsed," Hammerby said, clearly still very worried.

"What? When?"

"After you killed the Wicked Witch of the East and saved us from a giant fireball," Lafayette said, coming to sit down on the other side of me, curling his tail around his feet fastidiously. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it. That bitch has been the scourge of the East since I was a cub, and you just BAM! Took her right out!"

It was coming back to me.

"You're ok? I looked at him, then Hammerby and then Toto. "Colbert?"

"Here, Majesty, still intact and able to change color with the best of them!" His head came down over Hammerby's shoulder to look at me intently with his horsy stare. "You however, Majesty, clearly need to rest." I sighed in relief. I had brought my troops through and not lost one.

It was all I could hope for in this mess.

It was more than I could hope for in this mess.

"How did you do it, Sookie?" Hammerby had a look of wonder on his face that made me blush.

"It's what they brought me here to do," I said deflecting. "I vowed to lead in place of The Great King Eric, and that is all I am doing.

"Great King Eric?" Hammerby asked. I looked at him. What the hell?

"Yeah, the King that The Wizard and his Witches deposed, murdered and stole a country from. Ring a bell?"

"He shook his head, his face scrunched up as he tried to figure out what I was talking about. I glanced around, wondering if I had just made the whole fucking thing up while I sat in a rubber room somewhere, but the looks of shock on my companion's faces reassured me that at least they knew what I was talking about.

After a few moments he looked at me, realization dawning on his face. "This Great King, you cared for him, Sookie?" I could see it then in his face, the connection of my tossing and turning and what had happened the other night and why I was here and what I was doing and why I was doing it was written all over his face.

Funny he thought he didn't have a heart, cause by the look on his face I had accidentally just broken it.

"Hammerby," I started, reaching a hand out to him but he rose smoothly his face becoming hard as the rest of him.

"I'll take watch," he said before walking away. He was squeaking. He hadn't oiled his joints yet. Guess he had been too busy worrying about me. I sighed and laid back down.

I wanted to go after him, but they weren't going to let me up yet without me having a fit, and I didn't have the strength for that right now. I didn't know what to say anyway. Somehow I was sure that me pointing out that ache he was feeling right now proved that what he had said was bullshit would only make it worse.

For some reason, some strange reason, I was drawn to Hammerby. He felt like someone I could trust, and he certainly proven himself to be that. He made me feel…I didn't have the words. What had happened between us the other night was the most intimacy I had shared with anyone since Phuket, since Eric.

But I still loved Eric, even if was an oath breaking liar, I still loved him.

Hammerby was…well…Hammerby was not Eric. He was a great Hammerby but…my Eric…that night…his touch…I felt….

God, I am so tired.

I curled up and pulled my blanket over my head. A few minutes later I heard the others wander off to take their own spots for the night. I fell into a fitful sleep later and dreamed.

_Sookie…_

_Eric…_

Black

_Eric._

He pulled me into his arms and whispered in my ear.

_I didn't break my promise. I am with you still, Sookie. I have always been with you. I will always be with you._

I tried to push back but he held me fast and kept whispering, the sound going in and out like a loose speaker wire.

Black

_…__and that's how I knew, and then I saw the mark. I was told I would find you and I looked for so long…so…long…._

Black

_…__and then I found you, Sookie. I am with you. I am always with you…_

Black

_No! You lied! You let them kill you! How could you do that? How could you leave me, fucker?_

I pushed back then, wanting to look him in the eye so he could see what he had done to me. When I pulled back I found myself looking into the blue eyes of Hammerby, the Tin Man.

_I'm still with you, Sookie. _

I sat up, covered in sweat and shaking and panting, not with desire but with terror and on the verge of some big epiphany. I brushed my sweat soaked hair back from my face and took a deep breath.

"Bad dreams?" someone said from next to me on the ground. I jumped and turned. He was sitting cross legged beside me, his hands folded in his lap. My mind jumped, I had no idea what they had done with my gun when they tucked me in for the night.

My tattoo started burning again, and that was enough to tell me that I was going to wish I had that Beretta before this was over.

"Oh, come now," he said, with a familiar southern accent, a twinkle in his eyes that I could see clearly even in the dim firelight. "There's no need to abandon our manners now is there?"

I looked at him.

Were all the bad guys here stone fucking crazy?

"Allow me to introduce us. You are Sgt. Susan Stackhouse and I am Russell Edgington. Being new to these parts you might know me as The Wizard of Oz."


	7. If I Had A Heart

_My tattoo started burning again, and that was enough to tell me that I was going to wish I had that Beretta before this was over._

_"__Oh, come now," he said, with a familiar southern accent, a twinkle in his eyes that I could see clearly even in the dim firelight. "There's no need to abandon our manners now is there?"_

_I looked at him. _

_Were all the bad guys here stone fucking crazy?_

_"__Allow me to introduce us. You are Sgt. Susan Stackhouse and I am Russell Edgington. Being new to these parts you might know me as The Wizard of Oz."_

**The Rainbows End: If I Had A Heart (If I Had A Heart)**

I blinked.

He frowned.

"This is the part where you say, 'Nice to meet you."

"Is it?"

"What?"

"Nice for me to meet you?" He laughed and I looked around wondering why the others weren't awake by now, and where the hell was Hammerby? He could hear me fretting in my bedroll but he missed the crazy man belly laughing at me.

"They are otherwise engaged, Susan. It's all right if I call you Susan, isn't it?" He was oozing charm and evil in equal proportions. I was growing more and more certain I needed my Beretta and my tattoo was only reassuring me that this was headed down the highway to FUBAR.

"Sure, if I can call you Russell," I said struggling for confident from my position on the ground, vulnerable with no weapon in sight_. That's it Sookie, poke the bear. Has this place made you crazy, too?_

I knew a rhetorical question when I heard one.

"I'd be honored, Susan." _Well, here I was, nothing to do but go with it._

"So, what can I do for you, Russell?" He smiled again, and I thought for just a minute I saw the flash of fangs.

_Yep, I knew the answer to that already. Crazy Sookie Stackhouse. Get a grip!_

"Well," he said, picking a piece of imaginary lint off his sleeve, "You can start by telling me what makes you think that you can defeat me."

'"I only think I can try. What happens after that, who could say?" He leaned forward.

"Oh, I can say, Susan." He took a dramatic pause, his eyes drilling crazy into me. He didn't know it was a wasted effort, seeing as how I was plainly all stocked up on it already. "You will die."

"Phst! So?"

"Your friends will die. All those who oppose me will die."

"They are dead already if what I have been told is true." He leaned back.

"And what have you been told, dear Susan?"

"That you plan to kill everyone and steal their power to unravel all of Creation."

"Oh, my," he said leaning back and resting on his hands behind him palm down in the grass. "You don't know anything at all, do you, Susan."

"What is it I got wrong?"

"No, the question is what _they_ get wrong?"

_"__They?"_

"Yes, the ones who brought you here, the ones who told you nothing, the ones who chose such a pitiful little thing to fight their wars for them." He leaned forward then. "They don't know what happened, do they, Susan? They don't know you couldn't even save one, do they?"

"W-what?"

"Oh, I know. I know what happened." The air around us shimmered and I was back in Iraq, packing up from scoping the village. Gyl was radioing in that it was clear and we were Oscar Mike. "You failed, Susan," Russell whispered in my ear from behind me. I turned, dropping my pack, but he wasn't there.

Something was burning on my shoulder.

"Any minute now, those bombs are gonna rain down, because you failed, Susan." His whisper echoed in my mind. I froze.

There was time, I could get on the squawk box and call them off. I moved but it was like I was fighting mud instead of dust filled air. Not fast enough. The first explosion pounded the ground and I was trying to get there, trying to save them.

Russell grabbed me by the shoulders and smiled in my face. "Look, Susan, look what happens when you try and save them!" Behind him I saw a small boy that we had seen playing just a few moments ago disappear in fire and dust.

Part of him landed on the ground by my feet.

I screamed and fought to get free.

"Oh, oh my dear," he laughed. Another bomb dropped. Out of the sand storm came Toto running toward me. She saw me, was calling to me, and then she was gone, the fucking bomb had landed right on her tiny form, forever ending her run to reach me so I could save her.

I fought to get away and Russell still laughing let me go. I scrambled to get there, to stand between them and the tonnage explosions that rocked the ground beneath my feet.

"RUN! RUN LITTLE SOLIDER! RUN FAST! RUN TOWARD YOUR FAILURE AND EMBRACE IT!"

Vic grabbed me from behind and hit me, taking me down, but this time I stayed awake as she covered my body with her own. Russell leaned down over her and looked at me.

"See, Susan. You don't know anything at all." I was still fighting. "Say it, Susan! Admit it that you don't know anything! Admit that you can't save even one of them. Admit it! Tell me, Susan, tell me that you are a complete and total failure. A complete and total nutcase. You never even made it out of Iraq did you? TELL ME! TELL ME!"

I was struggling less now, his words sapping my will to fight. My shoulder was burning and Vic on top of me made it hard to breathe. Maybe he was right. If they knew what I really was they would never follow me.

I saw Toto in my mind, her fierce little face and her dagger at the ready.

"She died because of you, Susan. She died because you were pretending to be something you aren't!"

I saw Colbert then, deathly white running through the flying sand. His eyes were wide with terror and slobber ran from his muzzle. No matter how fast he ran, he could not escape the hell falling down around him. I reached out a hand toward him from underneath Vic.

"You can't save him, Stackhouse," she said looking down at me, her eyes black. "You can never save them."

"You can't save them, Susan," Russell whispered again.

"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell followed with him," Vic said, her black eyes filled with murder and glee. She threw her head back and screeched like all the demons of hell were inside her, and then they were inside me. Echoing in my brain.

The screams of thousands of dead. Thousands already there, thousands yet to come. My hand fell limp to the dirt, and I saw a puff of dust rise up, taking the last of my will to fight with it.

My shoulder stopped burning. The bombs kept exploding. My last thought was that I could hear Russell laughing underneath it all, as though he had been there from the beginning, reassuring me that he had would be there until the end.

It was over.

I had lost.

I let the dust and the death take me.

32XXXXXXXXXX23

It had been happening forever. It would be happening forever. The bombs falling, the screams of the dying and all I could do was sit in the dust of their ashes and rock myself.

_Failed. I failed. I'm so sorry. So sorry…._

Through my tears in the dim sunlight I saw a spark. I closed my eyes. _No more. PLEASE NO MORE!_

There it was again, coming closer. Shining like salvation.

_No! I don't deserve it! I failed and they all died._

"NO!" I screamed struggling to stand, struggling to run away. "NO!" I turned ready to flee when a hand caught mine, hard as steel. I pulled and jerked but it refused to let me go. "NO!" I screamed again, turning with my fist balled into a knot ready to strike at whoever was holding me back.

_Hammerby._

"Sookie," his voice was but a whisper, but I heard him like he was in my head. "Stop, Sookie. It's all right."

"NO! NOTHING WILL EVER BE ALL RIGHT! THEY ARE DEAD. YOU'RE DEAD AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT! ALL MY FUCKING FAULT! THEY FUCKED UP WHEN THEY PICKED ME! I COULDN'T SAVE THEM! I COULDN'T SAVE ERIC! I COULDN'T SAVE YOU!" I jerked again, but he held me tighter.

"Stop, Sookie. I have you, and it's all right. Look at me." I closed my eyes. _No more ghosts!_ "Look at me," he said, but his voice was different. He sounded like…

"Eric?" I opened my eyes and the Tin Man was gone. Before me stood the man I had met in Phuket. The man who had loved me and promised me that he would find me again. The man I had loved from the moment I saw him.

"I did find you, Sookie. I kept my promise. I have always been with you. I will always be with you."

The bombs stopped falling and the screams faded away as I looked into his blue eyes. His perfect blue eyes, swirling with emotion. I blinked and Eric was gone, and before me stood Hammerby, with the same blue eyes, swirling with the same emotion.

"Hammerby?" He nodded.

"And Eric," he said in my head again. Something moved inside me. I had been on the edge of that when Russell had appeared in camp. My chest seized and I gasped for air.

Russell?! I looked around, but there was just Hammerby and I there, in the vast emptiness. "The Wizard was here!" I told him stepping closer to his hard metal exterior. His arms came up around me and he kissed the top of my head.

"Is that what happened, Sookie? The Wizard?"

"Yes," I sobbed into his chest, holding him tighter to me.

"When we woke you were sitting in your bed roll and refused to speak. Your eyes were empty and you were just rocking back and forth. I was so scared that I made the Lion get Claudine." I looked up at him. He shifted in my vision.

_Hammerby. Eric. Hammerby. _

"She said that you were under some kind of spell and that someone needed to try and break it. I volunteered because I was the only who could touch you without sending you into a mindless fit."

"I figured it out just when Russell came, about who you really were."

"I did not know until I entered your mind. I was Hammerby the Tin Man, it was all I had known, that and my love for you. It was when I saw the truth in your eyes that the rest came back to me."

"They told me you were dead."

"In most ways I am."

"No!" I said, holding him tighter. "What really happened, Eric?" He hesitated, struggling to either remember or speak.

"They came in the night. I fought them, but I was badly wounded. My personal guard either turned against me or were murdered. I remember the Wicked Witch of the West, Freyda, took me. She told Russell she would kill me, but she had wanted me too long and too much to let me go so easily.

"She hid me from The Wizard, and when I refused her enough times, when I told her that my heart would never be hers because it was yours, she removed it from my chest and cast me in this horrible metal form.

"She said that if she couldn't have me then no one would.

"I wandered, empty and purposeless until you found me and set me free, again."

"Oh, Eric!" I held him tighter.

"No, not Eric. Never Eric with no heart. Only Hammerby, the empty Tin Man. That is all I am now, Sookie, but I have pledged this wretched form to you, and now it is yours. All that I have left is yours."

Reaching deep into myself I opened the memory of our night in Phuket. It was almost pristine from my care. It had been tucked away all that time, safe from the nightmare I had been in then and had been trapped in reliving now. He gasped when he felt it from me, through me.

"Sookie? W-what are you doing?"

"Showing you what you meant to me that night, and what you mean to me now. In this place of death of darkness you were my light. Now I will be yours. Your face, your form they matter not. You are my Eric. Forever."

He moaned in fear and something else as he held me tight let the memory come in waves, in oceans to take us both away.

32XXXXXXXXXXXX23

He came up beside me and leaned against the bar. He was a god. Well over six feet tall, blond hair and when he turned to look at me with his eyes of sky the bombs in my head stopped going off. I didn't want another drink, and I didn't want to fight away the pain.

I remember that he looked at my tattoo and smiled. His smile made angels fall from the sky, and devils like me long to climb up there just to be near him. I think he said, "A lady should always be prepared," which is what Dish had said, but I am not sure I didn't just make that up. I think that is what he said, but it wouldn't make sense for a perfect random stranger to tell me what The Man in Black had said.

But he must have said that because I know for sure what I said next was what Dish had said next, "Karma. Is somebody getting fucked now?"

"Always." Then I was in his arms, and his lips were on mine. He kissed me in the perfect way that no man ever had before. Just the right amount of pressure, just the right amount of tongue. He had been made to kiss me.

"I want to take you to my room," he whispered as he kissed my neck and I nodded my agreement, tossing money on the bar and walking him out the door. His room was around the corner and we kissed and caressed each other all the way there. When the door closed he stopped, leaned back against it and looked at me.

I expected him to undress me with his eyes, and while it was evident from his gaze and his body that he wanted nothing more than to be inside me, what surprised me was the love.

I saw love for me in his eyes. He licked his lips.

"I need you so much right now, little Sookie, I've waited so long for you, but first I have a story to tell you." I was aching for him, too. I wanted him just as much as his swollen cock told me he wanted me, but I was enchanted by his words.

"Tell me," I said, keeping my eyes on his while I began to slowly remove my clothes. It felt like we had forever to get this right.

"When I was a boy, a traveler came to my home. We often sheltered visitors for the night. He was a strange man, dressed in all black, and he had the most piercing green eyes I have ever seen.

"When everyone else was asleep," I dropped my tank top on the floor and reached back to undo my bra. He licked his lips, but went on, "He found me by the fireplace and told me of a woman I would someday meet." My bra fell to the floor, but still he held his eyes on mine, though I could feel how badly he wanted to see, and to taste my hard nipples that were begging for his touch.

His hand ghosted down to the large hard bulge that was pressing against the back of his zipper. I held his gaze and like him, licked my lips in anticipation of tasting him.

"She would have hair like the sun, and eyes of the sky. She would be a great warrior for her people, and she would have a pair of Ruby Slippers." I had been sliding my pants down when he said this, and I hesitated for a moment, but my eyes had never left his and I could see the truth in them.

I could feel it.

I came back up and got my panties removing everything at once to stand before him totally bare, except for the Ruby Slippers he had just spoken of a moment before.

Now his eyes left mine, and locked onto that tattoo.

"She would be mine, he said." I moved to him and started unbuttoning his shirt with careful tenderness, like I wasn't throbbing now to have him inside me, like his words hadn't just made me nearly come, standing several feet away from him.

"And we would be together forever, nothing able to separate us. Her soul would be on with mine and we would set the stars ablaze with our love." His shirt fell to the floor and I reached for his pants, popping the button while I looked into his eyes.

"He said her name would be Sookie, and I would know her when I saw her, feel her in my very bones, the vibration of her feminine magic." I slid his pants down, freeing his large erection to bob in my face. Seeing it there red and hard made the moisture slip down my inner thighs and my mouth water.

"And here you are," he finished as he stepped out of his clothes, his hands coming to rest on my hips when I stood before him.

"Here I am," I echoed, reaching up to slide my arms around his neck, and press my body to his, loving the feel of his cock resting against my belly, throbbing in time with the heat between my thighs.

"Here you are," he whispered before he kissed me again, his arms around me holding me tighter to him. A moment later his hand moved down to rub me between my legs, and finding my body more than ready for him he turned, still kissing me and walked us back to the bed. He sat down and pulled me into his lap, my knees on either side of his hips.

He lined himself up with me and I lowered down onto his huge head, feeling my body stretch to take him. I whimpered against his lips, feeling the most intense pleasure I had ever experienced. He moaned, holding back his thrusts, wanting me to take him at my own pace.

Despite the girth of him I was so ready that it took only rocking my hips a few times to seat him fully inside me. My body stretched to the limits encased him like he was made to fit me, hitting all my secret places to perfection. I shuddered in his arms and felt my walls flutter around him. I was on the edge of orgasm and he had yet to move.

He was beautiful, of that there was no doubt, but it was the peace he conjured in my soul and the completion he brought to my body that made me his, completely. When he lifted me on his shaft and thrust up when I came down I came in his arms, my body floating in pleasure as I felt him keep moving inside me.

I saw him, face in ecstasy while he moved me on him.

"I can't believe you are really here," he whispered.

I saw him looking at me in the exact way a woman wants to be looked at, as if she is the only woman in the world.

"You are all I have dreamed of since that night by the fire, when I was but a boy and knew nothing of women and love."

I saw him looking at where he was joined with me, and I wanted to keep that look on his beautiful face forever.

"At first in my dreams we played as children play, but as I grew to be a man, you grew to be a woman with me."

I saw him, his face a perfect capture of orgasmic pleasure and I felt him come inside me as I had the best orgasm of my life.

"I am yours, Sookie," he whispered in my neck, holding me close as his cock twitched inside me. He had fallen back then, and rolled us so that he was above me. He kissed my tattoo and asked me what I was doing in Phuket. I told him of my leave that was nearly over, and he promised that he would find me again. That he would never let me go.

I told him that when my tour was over I would go home to Bon Temps and wait for him there.

_I will find you again…._

I opened my eyes to see the Tin Man crying. I was crying, too. It was my most cherished memory.

"She couldn't have taken your heart, my love. You gave it to a lovely stranger in a strange land, and she kept it safe for you until she could return it."

I kissed him then, as he had kissed me that night, in the secret language of lovers and true love.

32XXXXXXXXX23

In the Land of Oz I opened my eyes and sat up.

Beside me, my one true love, The Great King Eric, sat up and looked around at our companions, love and light shining in his beautiful blue eyes.

He was home at last.


End file.
